The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. (1 Corinthians 3:8)
Your Eternal Reward
Apr 30, 2018
Over the past few days, weâve explored four ways your work matters to God. We saw how our work glorifies God by revealing his character to others. We saw that our work is a primary means by which God works in the world. We saw how our work is a means of living out the Great Commission. And yesterday, we saw how our work is a means of advancing the Kingdom of God.
Those four truths ought to give us plenty of purpose and motivation for our work. But God in his great graciousness gives us something elseâan explicit incentive to do our work well and in line with his principles. As todayâs passage makes clear, there are varying eternal rewards tied to how we work today.
Now, to be clear, our work has zero impact on our status as adopted children of God. Our salvation âis the gift of Godânot by works, so ...
Agents of Redemption
Apr 29, 2018
But there is a place where someone has testified: âWhat is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.â In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. (Hebrews 2:6-8)
Yesterday, we saw that âthe kingdom of Godâ was at the forefront of Jesusâs preaching. At his resurrection, Jesus proved that he is the prophesied king of that kingdom, thus inaugurating his redeemed creation.Â
But as we saw a few days ago, Jesus didnât bring the fullness of his kingdom in one fell swoop. He certainly could have, but he didnât.
This shouldnât surprise us. Before his crucifixion, Jesus made clear that his kingdom would come graduallyâslowlyâlike a mustard seed growing into a tree or yeast folding into dough (see Matthew 1...
Misreading the Great Commission
Apr 28, 2018
Go and make disciples of all nationsâ (Matthew 28:19)
This might be the most widely known and misunderstood verse in Scripture.
For years, I read this verse and felt guilty that I was working as a tech entrepreneur in suburban America, rather than moving away from home to âgo and make disciplesâ elsewhere.
My mindset transformed when pastor Kennon Vaughan showed me that the Greek word we translate âGoâ literally means âhaving gone.â Dr. Vaughan explains, ââGoâ is not a command. [Jesus] is not commanding them to go. He is saying, âHaving goneâŚturn men into disciples.â The going is assumed. Jesus didnât go more than 200 miles away from his hometown, and yet he is the greatest disciple-maker in history. It wasnât about how far he went. It was about what he did while he was going. The same is true for you and me.â
You donât need to change your vocation or location to participate in the Great Commission. Jesus has called each and every one of us to be âfu...
How God Feeds the World
Apr 27, 2018
The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan. (Joshua 5:11-12)
There was once a man who lived by the river. One day, the man heard a radio broadcast urging him and all residents to evacuate the town as a huge storm was coming and flooding was inevitable. But the man refused to leave claiming that God would protect him. When the flooding started, two neighborsâone in a kayak and another in a rescue helicopterâcame and tried to save the man, but he refused their help, assuring them that God would save him. You can probably guess what happened to the man: He drowned.
Is God capable of protecting, feeding, and healing us through miracles? Of course he is. But more often than not, he chooses to do these things ...
What Does âGlorifyâ Even Mean?
Apr 26, 2018
Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
1 Corinthians 15 is one of the longest expositions on heaven in Scripture. Given the topic, you might expect Paul to conclude this chapter by saying something like, âNow, wait around faithfully until the Lordâs return.â But thatâs not what he says. Instead, Paul says, âThereforeâŚAlways give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vainâ (1 Corinthians 15:58).Â
In light of our eternal hope, we are to lean into our work today, knowing that it will somehow not be for naught. Somehow our work matters to God. How? Weâre going to explore five answers to that question.Â
Today, we start with the most fundamental: As Jesusâs words in todayâs passage make clear, our work matters because it is a means of glorifying God.
John Piper says that to âglorifyâ God s...
Work Redeemed
Apr 25, 2018
See, I will create new heavens and a new earthâŚ.[My people] will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruitâŚ.They will not labor in vain. (Isaiah 65:17a, 21, 23a)
Yesterday, we saw the climax of Scripture in Revelation 21 in which heaven is finally revealed in its fullness on the New Earth. In todayâs passage, Isaiah offers a parallel prophecy, adding one crucial detail. Isaiah says that when Christ returns to âmake everything newâ (Revelation 21:5), that will include our work.Â
This is the glorious conclusion to the biblical narrative of work weâve sketched out over the last ten days. Hereâs a quick recap.
God worked and created us to work before the Fall, meaning that the work of Adam and Eve was once perfect worship. But sin made work difficult and ensured that we would idolize work as a means of seeking to save ourselves. Because we couldnât save ourselves, God sent Christ to earth to remind us of the goodness of...
On Earth As It Is In Heaven
Apr 24, 2018
Then I saw âa new heaven and a new earthâŚI saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, âLook! Godâs dwelling place is now among the peopleâŚâHe will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more deathâ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.â He who was seated on the throne said, âI am making everything new!â (Revelation 21:1a, 2-3a, 4-5a)
As we near the end of our exploration of the biblical narrative of work, we come to the climax of Scripture: the marriage of heaven and earth and the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of God.
Yesterday, we saw that while Jesus inaugurated his kingdom on Easter, he didnât bring the kingdom to earth all at once. He gave his bride, the Church, the privilege of helping him build his kingdom.
Todayâs passage previews our promis...
Jesus the Gardener
Apr 23, 2018
Now Mary stood outside the tomb cryingâŚshe turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was JesusâŚ.Thinking he was the gardener, she said, âSir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.â (John 20:11a, 14, 15b)
Youâve probably read this passage dozens of times. And if youâre like me, youâve likely always thought of the fact that Mary mistook Jesus as âthe gardenerâ as some odd but insignificant detail of Scripture.Â
But no word of Scripture is placed there by accident, and as renowned New Testament scholar N.T. Wright has pointed out, this detail is no exception. It appears that John is pointing to something quite remarkable indeed. John is contrasting the first Adam in the Garden of Eden with the last Adam, Jesus Christ, in the Garden of the Tomb.Â
In the beginning, God created Adam to work the Garden of Edenâto fill and subdue the first creation. At the resurrection, Jesus inaugu...
Saved to Work
Apr 22, 2018
For we are Godâs handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
Yesterday, we read the two verses that precede todayâs. Ephesians 2:8-9 shows us how the gospel enables us to rest from our work, as we know that our status as co-heirs with Christ is secure regardless of anything we accomplish. Ephesians 2:10 shows us that our response to that security is to want to be productive on the Lordâs behalf.Â
Why?Â
Because working to earn someoneâs favor is exhausting. But working in response to unconditional favor is intoxicating.
Furthermore, as Paul makes clear in todayâs verse, the very purpose of our livesâthe reason we were created and savedâwas not to wait around for eternity. Christ made us new creations so that we could âdo good works!âÂ
But Jordan, when Paul says âgood worksâ he was talking about giving money to the poor, not writing an elegant line of code, right? Wron...
The Verdict Youâve Been Waiting For
Apr 21, 2018
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithâand this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of Godânot by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Over the past five days, weâve been systematically walking through the biblical narrative of work. Today and tomorrow, we examine the pinnacle of that narrativeâJesusâs death and resurrectionâto see how the gospel provides our ultimate source of rest and ambition for our work.
First, letâs see how the gospel enables us to rest.
Just like the Babylonians did in Genesis 11, many of us look to our work for our sense of worth today. Itâs why âWhat do you do?â is often the first question we ask new acquaintances. We all feel a need to impress others with our answer to that question. Why? Because we are all looking for a verdict for our livesâfor someone to say that we are worthy and that our very existence is justified.
The beautiful truth of the gospel is that Jesus has secured that verdict...
